December 8, 2007 Dr. Bryan Just "Mesoamerican Visual Culture at
the Princeton University Art Museum"

Princeton Art Museum is home to a broad and important collection of
Pre-Columbian materials, with particular strengths in Olmec and Maya
objects. from Xochipala and Jaina, Olmec jade carving, Mixtec,
Aztec and Inka jewelry and musical instruments. Dr. Just began his talk
with praise of Gillett Griffin, whose influence and guidance during his
many years as curator, as well as his generous donations and
acquisitions, helped form the brilliance and breadth of the Gallery’s
collection today. Gillett’s particular interest was in the formative
period, and he delighted in acquiring exquisite, small pieces for the
collection. His influence and taste can be seen through out, as each
piece exhibited has an intrinsic artistic beauty, as well as
anthropological importance.
The
first items highlighted for the group were two figures. The first was a
well known Olmec sculpture of a shaman in a transformation pose, still
almost completely human in appearance, with only folded back hair. The
crouching pose and a lens shaped incision on the back mimicing the
first sign of molting, indicate an incipient change into a specific
toad with hallucinogenic secretions important to shamanic activities.
Dr. Just pointed out that the figure had a reddish cast except in the
area which would have been covered by a loincloth, meaning that the
figure had probably been clothed. The second figure was a new
acquisition: a large classic Maya polychrome figure of a woman holding
a very large jar, which was decorated with two faint cross legged
figures. Her forehead was covered with a red glaze, her mouth was wide
and painted and she was attired in a sarong style dress characteristic
of both the moon goddess and royal women depicted on pictorial classic
vases, including the noted Princeton Pot, found nearby. The
gallery also houses the Hauberg Stela, named for its donor, which is a
well known small stela commemorating the first sacrifice of a royal
youth, bearing a late 2nd century date. Dr Just speculated that the
stela may have been retrospective, as the spelling conventions used
were later than the inscribed date.
Tearing the Mayan enthusiasts away from the collection of exquisite
Maya vessels and figurines, Dr. Just directed the group’s
attention to a display of pre-historic Alaskan Bering Strait Ivories,
which will be part of a planned exhibit on the art of both sides of the
Bering Strait, and then moved on to Nayarit and Veracruz figurines.
Black pitch, which would have been gleaned from one of the naturally
occurring petroleum seeps that mark the area of the Mexican Gulf
Coast oil production, accentuates the ritual scarification
depicted on the face of one of the Veracruz figures. Outstanding in the
Aztec collection, to our eyes, were two sets of clear quartz ear plugs
with fine cores of gold and turquoise, as well as a rare wooden mask.
South American pieces included a tiny Wari figure made of imported
turquoise, a beautiful Moche portrait head, and finally, a seated Nazca
female figure, bearing a neck wrap and a feline deity tattooed on her
back, with clothing that would have been draped over her body.
Particularly noteworthy was an incredible mud coated wooden Wari drum,
with a painted camelid skin head, one of many musical instruments found
throughout the collection; whistles, flutes and even a trumpet were
pointed out. Bryan closed his talk with a reference
to the work the Museum has been doing in creating a fully searchable
Web-Site, which would include the sounds made by these instruments.
These recordings, of course, include the work of John Burkhalter, PCS
member and speaker. We look forward to being able to access
the collection of the Art Museum, and would like to thank Dr. Just for
his knowledgeable and enthusiastic tour of this important Pre-Columbian
Collection.
Bryan Just received his MA and PhD from Tulane University’s
Interdisciplinary Program in Art History and Linguistics, with a 2006
dissertation, The Visual Discourse of Ninth-Century Stelae at
Machaquila and Seibal. He received his BA from Yale
University. He is the author of numerous publications including
collaborative efforts with Gabrielle Vail, Anthony Aveni, Harvey
Bricker and others. He has taught art history courses at Tulane
and presented numerous conference papers. He was recently appointed to
serve as the Assistant Curator of Art of the Ancient Americas, at the
Princeton University Art Museum.